As Jews around the world prepared for the last days of the Passover festival, the New York Times international print edition (available in countries including Israel), published this cartoon:
A blind US President Donald Trump wearing a Jewish skullcap being led by a canine caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was drawn by Portuguese cartoonist Antonio Moreira Antunes, of the Lisbon weekly paper, Expresso. According to the Daily Mail, Expresso deleted the cartoon from its site without an explanation or apology.
The image of Israel leading the US draws upon a classic antisemitic trope of Jewish power and control.
The newspaper that makes a virtue out of promoting anti-racism, minority rights and giving a platform to every possible liberal or progressive cause appears to have no boundaries when it comes to offending Jews.
At least the New York Times has belatedly recognized its disgraceful editorial failure if this tweet is to be believed:
An Editors' Note to appear in Monday’s international edition. pic.twitter.com/1rl2vXoTB3
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) April 27, 2019
How do such ‘errors of judgment’ occur in the first place?
The image is so blatantly offensive, it’s hard to believe that editors at the New York Times international edition failed to see it before the damage was done.
And the damage has been done. The New York Times can issue its Editors’ Note in a future edition but this image has already been seared in the memories of an international audience that had the misfortune to pick up a copy of the paper that day.
Just when we think the New York Times couldn’t stoop any lower.
